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Reel News Tim Ryan |
Isle film fest
lacks big starsHawaii International Film Festival notes ... HIFF officials say the 23rd annual event was "the most successful ever" with more than 60,000 seats filled ... HIFF board chairman Jeff Portnoy told the Golden Maile Awards ceremony audience that HIFF is among the world's top 10 festivals. Is that the list that includes Sundance, Toronto, Venice, Berlin, Montreal, Rotterdam, Cannes, Telluride and AFI in Los Angeles? That seems a bit of a stretch when festival success is determined by attendance, television and print-media coverage, celebrity presence, box office, and world and U.S. premieres ...
The Golden Maile Awards highlight was the state's Film in Hawaii award for the "Hawaii Five-0" series and one of its stars, James "Danno" MacArthur, who was the only "celebrity" attending HIFF this year. That begs the question: Should the organization make sure it has at least one high-profile filmmaker/actor attending? Certainly, at least HIFF's opening night premier. The low celeb presence is one reason HIFF receives little publicity outside Hawaii, especially from Hollywood. Hosting celebrities and their entourages is something HIFF can't afford, officials have said ... Filmmakers and others were disappointed at Gov. Linda Lingle's no show at the HIFF reception at the Governor's mansion, opting for a talk-story meeting in Leeward Oahu. She also didn't attend the Golden Maile Awards at the Honolulu Academy of Arts. The usual venue at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel was booked like it was two years ago ...
Louis Vuitton Hawaii will continue as HIFF's major sponsor for at least one more year, but Aloha Airlines, which once sponsored a major HIFF film competition, dropped it this year yet dramatically increased its presence at AFI, headed by former -- and fired -- HIFF director Christian Gaines. Aloha Airlines sponsors AFI's audience survey and provides several airline tickets to filmmakers and some audience contest winners. The airline sponsors HIFF in a smaller capacity, including providing some free film and equipment shipping to the neighbor islands ...
Speaking of Gaines, who took AFI's reins in 2000, he's getting major coverage in Variety and the Hollywood Reporter for that festival's "first-class films," described as "a mini-United Nations of celluloid" with 42 countries represented. The AFI Fest will join forces next year with the American Film Market to create a West Coast-style Cannes and that could mean even fiercer competition for HIFF in getting some films and filmmakers ...
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